"The substance of his wandering twaddle - if by chance it had substance - was that there is nothing in dreams."
Mark Twain
Jan. 13, 1906.
From the Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 1.
I saw this and was surprised that someone state-side used the word 'twaddle', especially someone as famous as Twain. The fact that it is in the same sentence as the word 'dreams' is a double bonus.
Mark Twain makes fun of a man who infers meaning into one of his dreams. The next day in his autobiography he tells a story that he has told many times about an important dream he had. I suspect Mark Twain just likes attention, and could go either way about his opinion of dreams.
I suspect it's just Mark Twain's view of dreams rather than a swipe at anyone?
Interesting though the inference that dreams used to play a more important role in the past.
At a quick glance that further quote may seem like a swipe at us lucid dreamers, but I think it is more a swipe at the twaddle merchants.
Did you read the rest of that section?
"Dreams merely proceed from indigestion—there is no quality of intelligence in them—they are thoroughly Fantastic and without beginning, logical sequence, or definite end. Nobody, in our day, but the stupid or the ignorant attaches any significance to them. And then he went on blandly and pleasantly to say that dreams had once had a mighty importance, that they had had the illustrious honor of being used by the Almighty as a means of conveying desires, warnings, commands, to people whom He loved or hated—that these dreams arc set down in Holy Writ: that no sane man challenges their authenticity, their significance, their verity."
I hope you performed a reality test 😂
Absolutely an amazing find! - Thank you for sharing